1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to firearms, specifically to a handheld firearm, such as a striker fired pistol, and more specifically to a pistol having a slide with an inner striker housing for securing a striker and striker block, the striker housing being slidably attachable to finger grips that are held in place by the pistol slide. The inner striker housing eliminates the need for intricate machining or molding of the pistol slide interior. It can be removably attached, which assists in replacement and/or cleaning.
2. Description of Related Art
Firearms such as semi-automatic pistols generally include a number of common components, such as a frame, a barrel that defines a chamber for holding a cartridge, a reciprocating slide that defines a breech face for engaging the rear of the chamber; and a spring-loaded axially-movable firing pin (the “striker”) disposed in the slide and, upon firing, contacts the cartridge to discharge the pistol. A striker-fired pistol has a firing control mechanism that eliminates the hammer and operates by directly cocking and releasing the firing pin or striker.
Due to their lack of a protruding hammer, many striker fired pistol designs have popularized the concealed carry market. Striker fired pistol designs also ensure that each trigger pull from the first through the final round of the magazine has the same weight of pull.
A striker is a heavy firing pin that acts as both a firing pin and a hammer. It has enough mass to set off a primer, but it doesn't look like a hammer. In fact, most strikers look like wide firing pins. The firing pins on most bolt-action rifles are actually either strikers by themselves, or they are attached to extra mass and then function as strikers. Typically, the striker firing mechanism uses a spring-loaded firing pin or rod segment that works more like the launcher in a pinball machine than that of a traditional pistol with a hammer. This spring-loaded pin is partially cocked by the movement of the slide. The trigger then cocks the pin the remainder of the way and releases it to strike the primer and ignite the cartridge.
With either center- or rim-fire type of ammunition, the rear of the casing must be struck with enough force to ignite the primer, which then catalyzes the gunpowder explosion to propel the bullet from the cartridge through the gun barrel. In striker-fired pistols, the striker is the component that strikes the casing and ignites the primer.
As the trigger is pulled the striker is moved rearward within the pistol. This increases the tension on the firing pin spring. When the trigger bar releases the firing pin lug, the striker moves forward as the firing pin spring relaxes. This motion causes the striker to impact the ammunition in the chamber.
The slide is the part of the pistol that moves during the operating cycle and generally houses the firing pin or striker, striker block, and an extractor, and serves as the bolt. It is spring-loaded so that once it has moved to its rearmost position in the firing cycle; spring tension brings it back to the starting position chambering a fresh cartridge during the motion, provided that the magazine is not empty.
The slide contains a barrel and a breech and is guided in the longitudinal direction with respect to the housing. With the aim of making pistols as light as possible, many manufacturers have endeavored to make as many parts as possible from plastic. In striker fired pistols, the striker and striker block are housed in the slide. This requires intricate machining on the inside of the slide in order to secure properly these components. This intricate machining increases manufacturing time and cost, and may introduce inaccuracies due to manufacturing tolerances. Additionally, cleaning this intricate machining remains a difficult task.